


An Uncertain Path

by junko



Series: Scatter and Howl [9]
Category: Bleach
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-02-24
Packaged: 2018-03-14 23:49:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3430109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junko/pseuds/junko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Byakuya comes to realize how difficult life is to negotiate now that his heart has been pierced by Renji's fang...</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Uncertain Path

Before leaving the estate, Byakuya called for Eishirō. The man who had been first Byakuya’s nanny and then ran the entirety of the Kuchiki estate, knelt in a warm patch of sunlight on the office floor.

_Be thankful_ , Byakuya thought silently, _that I am, in point of fact, not the man you believe me to be._

Again, however, Byakuya was uncertain what his course of action should be. The infraction was severe. A man’s life had been ruined. “However,” Byakuya said aloud, “I can’t entirely blame you for acting in accordance to the traditions this household has upheld my entire tenure as its head.”

Eishirō lifted his head curiously. “My lord?”

“The dismissal of the teamster was not my desire, Eishirō. If you have dispatched guards to remove his family, you must recall them immediately, before more damage is done.”

Byakuya could almost watch the blood draining from the house steward’s plainly handsome face. His hands flew to cover his mouth and his head hit the floor in supplication. “What have I done?”

“Only what you thought I would have wished,” Byakuya said with a heavy heart. “It’s what you must do every day: anticipate my desires. It is a testimony to your service that it is rare that you misstep so profoundly. If only we could brush it off as no harm done. But this is no mis-ordered cake or un-ironed kimono.” 

Eishirō began to tremble at that. As well he should. Yet, Byakuya knew not what to do. He weighed his options carefully. Before today, it would have been simple: an eye for an eye: banish Eishirō and his whole family, including, Byakuya’s supposed, the tea boy, Eishirō’s young son, and the wife, a chambermaid. 

But, that seemed foolish, since Byakuya had never wanted that fate for even the teamster.

He hated to admit it, but Byakuya hadn’t the heart to administer any kind of physical punishment. Perhaps on any other, but this was the man who’d washed his face when he was no more than a toddler and had held him until he was able to cry over his parents’ deaths. Byakuya could no more order this man beaten than he could his own father.

“Administrative leave,” Byakuya said at last. “Without pay. Two months.” Byakuya would have made it longer, because, again, it struck him how little a sum amounted to a man’s life, but it was more than Eishirō that would suffer his absence. Speaking of that, Byakuya needed to make provisions that the estate wouldn’t immediately crumble. “You will go to the summer house, you and your family, and wait out the term there, but first, you will take the time you need to see my relatives safely on their way after my birthday. Also without pay. But you will do your best or the punishment will be worse. You understand?”

Eishirō breathed a stunned, “Yes, my lord, I understand.”

Byakuya could have dismissed him then, but he didn’t. Instead, he stood up in order to turn his back. Byakuya couldn’t face Eishirō as he spoke a vulnerable truth: “I have been pierced and broken on many blades. I am not the man I was. In the future, do not assume you know my heart, when I, myself, do not even know it.”

There was a gasping breath and then a humble, “Yes, my lord. I am… truly sorry.”

Byakuya didn’t doubt it, but he didn’t want to hear it. “You’re dismissed.”

After that unpleasant business, Byakuya called the captain of the bodyguards to his office. She saluted him with a crisp, no nonsense bow and then settled into seiza in front of his desk. As usual, she was herself perfectly utilitarian. Short cut steel gray hair and perfectly pressed uniform, that was not unlike that of a shinigami, but in Kuchiki blue. 

From the safe beneath the floor, Byakuya had earlier retrieved bank notes equal to the amount Renji owed. He had them carefully wrapped in a bundle now and handed them to the captain with a short letter that explained that this was in payment of Renji’s debit. “Deliver this yourself to the appropriate secretary of Central 46,” Byakuya said. “I want this matter taken care of as soon as possible.”

She bowed as she accepted the bundle of notes. “I will leave immediately, my lord.”

“Excellent,” Byakuya said. “I trust Eishirō has already asked to recall any of your soldiers sent to expel the teamster’s family?”

She nodded crisply again, but there was a slight hesitation. “Yes… regarding that matter, my lord. I’ve received a report that your lieutenant ran into my troop at the gate and…” she seemed to struggle for the right word for a moment before settling on, “… countermanded the order to exile the teamster. There may have been threats or bribes involved. My reports are… conflicted. One of my soldiers claims they retreated from an attack. The other says they were given coin and told to take a break. The third doesn’t seem capable of corroborating either story without a panic attack.”

A pain blossomed between Byakuya’s brows. More gray areas to negotiate, and he simply no longer had the strength. 

He waved a hand in the direction of the bodyguard captain as though to lay it all at her feet. “I will leave the punishment of your soldiers to your discretion, captain,” Byakuya said, “But be aware that the order to exile the teamster was not issued by me. It came from the house steward who, unfortunately for us all, misrepresented my desire. That Renji countermanded Eishirō’s mistaken order is, in point of fact, of great relief to me.”

It did not, however, absolve Renji of the fact that he acted on his own, once again, in violation of tradition and law.

Would that man never learn?

“I will deal with the lieutenant and the teamster myself,” Byakuya assured her.

#

Renji had just settled the teamster in the inn across the road when the butterfly from Central arrived. 

“…shall pay a fee of twenty million ken.”

Renji’s knees gave out and he sat down, hard, on the meager palate on the floor. “Oh fuck,” was all he could say. He couldn’t even work up a fury at the injustice of it all, all he could think was, ‘I can’t afford that. I’m going to end up in debtor’s prison for non-payment.’

He buried his face in his hands for a long moment. 

The floorboards creaked as the teamster shifted from foot to foot, as if uncertain what to say. 

Renji pulled his hands from his face and glared up at him. “There you go. Happy now? You were right all along. Surprise, surprise, I ain’t worth shit. On top of that, I get to pay for the pleasure of being abused by that piece of crap.”

_Should’ve fucking buried the body._

The teamster didn’t try to deny anything, though his gaze skipped away from Renji’s face to stare at the floor. “Can you afford it, Lieutenant?”

Flopping backward onto the mattress, Renji stared despondently at the ceiling. “Nope.”

“Surely they would allow a shinigami to serve out the fee in some other way?”

Obviously, this guy had never dealt with Central 46 before. There was a reason no one had questioned all the irrational, crazy shit that Aizen pulled when he was pretending to be them. Execution moved up for no apparent reason? Yep. Happened all the time. A non-captain to be publicly executed like one, even though that wasn’t the usual done thing? Sure, why the fuck not?—no one ever expected Central’s decisions to make any kind of sense.

“Look, it’s my problem, not yours,” Renji said, pulling himself to his feet. He let out a heavy sigh and tried to roll some of the tension out his shoulders. Muscles popped noisily, but he didn’t feel any more relaxed. “I’m going to go eat lunch at the mess while I’m still allowed. I guess I can’t do much more for you, anyways. Good luck to you.”

The teamster gave Renji a deep, respectful bow. “Perhaps your friends can do a fundraiser?”

“Yeah, maybe,” Renji said as he made his way to the door. It was a good idea, to be fair, but he couldn’t muster up any enthusiasm for anything at the moment. He felt kicked in the balls. The people he’d sworn to lay his life down for had just told him his honor was nearly worthless. A million ken would be a stretch for someone like him, who lived paycheck to paycheck, but the reprisal made the message clear. A guy tries to push himself on Renji and gets nothing more than slap on the wrist. Renji bruises some nobleman’s wrist in self-defense and makes him faint with an accidental burst of reiatsu and it’s ten times more?

Yeah.

It didn’t matter that he’d pulled his ass up out of the Rukongai and worked tirelessly from the day he’d been accepted into Academy; he was always going to be trash to some people.

 _Sometimes, you got to figure_ , Renji thought as he made his way back to the Division, _Maybe Tōsen had a point: there is no justice in the Gotei._

#

Byakuya tried not to seem panicked when the Third Seat explained that Renji had not yet returned from an extended lunch break. Still, she must have sensed the sharp spike in his spiritual pressure because she asked, “Is something wrong, Taicho?”

His lips formed a thin line, once again uncertain what the appropriate response should be. He opted for the truth… at least some of it. He wanted to use words like ‘pig-headed’ and ‘misguided’ to describe Central’s decision, but that was treason. 

“The lieutenant has received some unfortunate news from Central 46. I’m concerned he might be somewhat… “ Were Renji a Kuchiki, Byakuya would use some euphemism like ‘unprepared,’ but instead he said plainly: “…devastated.”

“Oh,” she said, her eyebrows shooting upward in surprise. She covered her mouth and muttered, “Oh no, poor Renji! He’s been arrested for fraternization, hasn’t he?”

Byakuya blinked, briefly unable to make the jump from what he knew to what she had assumed. “No,” Byakuya said quickly. “Of course not. Don’t be foolish. This is another matter entirely. If an arrest order came for fraternization, it would be for me, unless the world is completely upside down!”

The shocked expression on the Third’s face mirrored Byakuya’s own. He’d not intended to sound quite so exasperated. He had to turn his face away, to try to wrestle his emotions under control. It took several long, slow breaths before he could speak again.

“Forgive my outburst,” he said. Probably he should explain himself more, but Byakuya found he could not. So, he simply issued an order, “When you see him, tell the lieutenant I’m looking for him.”

A soldier, one Byakuya thought he recognized as the troublesome Kinjo, came through the door and said, “Did you say you were looking for Renji, Taicho? I just saw him go into the mess.”

“Very good,” Byakuya said with a nod of acknowledgement. To the Third, Byakuya said, “Fetch him and tell him that when he’s finished with his lunch, he should come directly to my office.”

She snapped to attention, “Hai, Taicho!”

At least if Renji was eating at the mess, he wasn’t off somewhere panicking about the fee or trying to sell off everything he owned. Byakuya considered sending a butterfly of his own to explain that things were being taken care of, but he didn’t wish to cause Renji undue embarrassment, especially in front of the men. What they really needed were those ridiculously handy cell phones from the human world. A text would be private and efficient.

Honestly, Mayuri Kurotsuchi could invent devices that rent space and time in two, but they still had to rely on butterflies?

Mayuri… dear gods, Byakuya had forgotten his appointment with the Captain of the Twelfth!

Damn it. He would have to see about rescheduling. At the moment, Renji was more important. Byakuya conjured a butterfly as he walked across the quad. “Cell phones. I would fund this project I swear to all the gods here and in the Rukongai--”. Then, with a frustrated breath, Byakuya stopped and banished the butterfly. Starting over, he began, “I’m afraid a number of personal matters kept me from our appointment this morning….” 

#

Renji shoveled food into his mouth like it was the last decent meal he’d ever have. _Fuck_ , he thought, _do they feed you in debtor’s prison?_

“Probably they do,” Renji muttered to himself, “And then bill you for it. That way you never get out.”

The Third Seat slipped into the empty spot on the long table beside him, “You talking to yourself again, Renji?”

“Eh, just lamenting my fate.” He gave her a little, tired smile. “What’s up?”

“Captain wants you when you’re done here.” 

A couple of soldiers across from them looked up and nearly choked on their rice. One actually spewed her tea.

“Not like that, you morons!” Renji said to them. But, then it occurred to him that he was off-duty and so he felt like maybe he should check in to make sure, “Right?”

“Right,” she laughed, with a shake of her head that sent her braids bouncing. Leaning an elbow on the table, she turned her head and dropped her voice, “Are you in some kind of trouble with Central?”

He snorted. “Not exactly. My advice? If you feel a post-traumatic episode coming on, make sure no noblemen are around.”

Nanako gave him a funny little frown like she had no idea what he was talking about. After a little shrug to herself, she got up and said, “Sure, okay, thanks, I guess. Anyway, good luck with the captain. He seemed on edge about something.”

Had Byakuya heard about the teamster already? How much more trouble was Renji going to be in today? Well, he was already going to jail. How much worse could things really get? Renji waved goodbye to Nanako and, with a grimace, sighed, “Awesome.”

#

It seemed Renji had been particularly bored, as there was a lot of paperwork to sign and sort on Byakuya’s desk when he came in. The office, being nearly windowless, was dim, so Byakuya lit a lantern. After that, he rang for tea. Perhaps, he would also order some treats in anticipation of Renji’s arrival.

Then again, perhaps it was unwise to have such a congenial atmosphere. He should really admonish Renji for his… well, it was willfulness as always, was it not?

That should not have made Byakuya smile, but it did. He had to take a moment to literally wipe the amusement from his face with his hand.

There were reasons fraternization was a bad thing. 

Byakuya trimmed his brush and poured out a small well of ink. As he went through these familiar motions, he considered the issue. With his rash actions, Renji had saved them all a fair spot of trouble. Eishirō had not sent a man to his death accidentally, a thought that must be weighing heavily upon the house steward even now. Byakuya made a mental note to be sure to pass the news of the rescue to Aio when she came to take his order, so that she might inform Eishirō.

Similarly, there was no point in having soldiers who didn’t think for themselves. Especially at lieutenant level, Renji’s duty was to follow orders, yes, but also to improvise as needed. In the field, inventiveness and flexibility could be critical to turning the tide of a battle. 

Renji did have a tendency to push back against orders far more than most, but… his instincts were good. He’d been right about Rukia, despite all the seeming evidence to the contrary. And, today, a man’s life had been spared—one that would have been needlessly wasted.

Perhaps there wasn’t much that needed to be done.

Unless, of course, Renji had threatened the Kuchiki bodyguards with violence… or bribed them. The latter, at least, was more the fault of the bodyguards, and their captain would deal with their infractions. 

Aio’s knock was light at the door. “Come in,” Byakuya beckoned. She seemed a bit surprised at the summons, but did as he ordered. “Tea,” he said once she’d settled. “For myself and the lieutenant, who should be arriving shortly. Also, a few treats would not go amiss. Most importantly, however, Aio, I need you to pass a message to Eishirō for me. Tell him that Renji rescued the teamster. Eishirō shouldn’t worry himself overmuch about the man’s fate. Thanks to Renji’s swift intervention there is, in fact, no harm done.”

“And here I figured you was going to chew me out about that, Taicho,” Renji said from the open doorway. He leaned against the frame, his arms crossed in front of his chest. Bright light showed through his hair from behind. His topknot glowed like a fiery, spiked halo.

“I should, by rights,” Byakuya said, unable to keep the smile from his voice. “Though it was not my order you countermanded, there was no way you should have known that.”

“You didn’t order the exile?” Renji asked. In a fluid movement, his arms unwound and he popped upright. “Who did?”

“Eishirō,” Byakuya said. With a glance at the wide-eyed Aio, he quickly added, “He thought to act on my behalf. It was an honest mistake. Perhaps, too, as he heard the insult the teamster uttered, he felt it well justified.”

“Well, yeah, that guy can’t seem to say much that ain’t wrong-headed and bigoted.” Renji said, entering the room casually and confidently, as though he’d been invited. He gave a nod in greeting to Aio as he strode past her to sit in front of Byakuya. “But he was contrite enough when I saved his sorry ass.” Renji quickly glanced back at Aio, “Oh! Uh, pardon my French.”

Byakuya waved her off. “The tea, Aio. And, don’t forget to pass on my message.”

“Yes, my lord,” she said as she bowed her way out.

“Now you may speak freely,” Byakuya said once she was gone and the door was closed again. “Tell me, Renji did you attack the bodyguards? Their captain said the reports were conflicted.”

Renji shrugged. “I would’ve if I’d had to,” he admitted casually. “But they were willing enough to stand down. Ain’t many who’d want that job. Throwing a guy out like that; can’t be a good day’s work.”

Byakuya frowned. Renji’s accent was far thicker than normal. On top of that, he sounded… bitter. Byakuya was not always the best at determining emotions, but he’d seen Renji like this before—though mostly when he spoke of Inuzuri.

“Let us set that aside for a moment,” Byakuya said, doing the same with his paperwork. “You must have received word from Central by now. If you’re worried about the fee, it’s already taken care of.”

Renji’s face went through a series of contortions, none of which Byakuya had any hope of comprehending. Eventually, he put his hands on his spread knees and bowed his head. “That’s… mighty generous of you, sir. But, I can’t accept that. I need to pay my own way.”

Ah, of course, Byakuya should have factored in Renji’s pride. No matter; Byakuya would simply act as if he’d always planned for this contingency. “And you will. Your wages will be henceforth garnished twenty thousand ken a month until the debt is paid in full.”

Renji looked up. “Oh. Right. Yeah, of course,” thinking it through, Renji seemed to wince a little at the pay cut, but nodded. “That’d be fair.”

“We will speak no more of the financial aspects of this matter,” Byakuya decreed because he knew full well that money was the single issue that he and Renji could never hope to agree on. No, it was more than that. They didn’t even have language in common when it came to issues of finance. “However, I expect, given the insultingly low sum he was expected to pay, Lord Isoroku is already free from confinement. Given his penchant for drama, I expect some kind of scene at the family dinner. Therefore, I suggest you not attend me tonight. At least, not to dinner.”

Byakuya expected the brief flash of hurt that crossed Renji’s ever-expressive face. But, then Renji lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “Eh, mood I’m in, I’d probably haul off and punch him and then I’d be in for another 50 million—so yeah, good call.”

“I sent a complaint,” Byakuya said, turning away so that Renji wouldn’t see the emotion written on his face. “You’re worth so much more.”

A shifting creek of tatami was the only warning before Renji’s hands were on Byakuya’s face, gently turning him for a kiss. Renji’s mouth covered his in a light, but loving touch. Byakuya closed his eyes and let Renji’s reiatsu brush up against his. He breathed in Renji’s scent: always so… unwashed, but not unattractive—like the musk of a wild, untamable beast. 

When Renji pulled away, his face stayed close as he said, “You have no idea what that means to me. Especially coming from you.”

 _It means I’ve been such an ass to you_ , Byakuya thought desperately. _I should have never wedged class between us, when so many others would do it for us._

“For that,” Byakuya whispered. “I’m sorry.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks as always to Josey (cestus) and for everyone who continues to read this sprawling soap opera and leaves me ideas and comments and thoughts. You guys are awesome. All y'all. 
> 
> (I'm just feeling really grateful for fandom today.)


End file.
